


Cheeseburgers

by LoneStarSpidey



Series: Young Avengers [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Iron Bros, Iron Family, Stark Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-15 22:23:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18678535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoneStarSpidey/pseuds/LoneStarSpidey
Summary: Tony Stark, the Invincible Iron Man, is gone. Today was his funeral. But the day doesn't have to be all sadness. In every ending, there is a beginning. And in beginnings, there is hope. But first, maybe there should just be something for dinner.





	Cheeseburgers

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy! Welcome to my very first ever fanfic! I apologize if the writings a little stale and rusty. I haven't dipped my feet into fiction in roughly three years. Dialogue skills are still a little stiff. Anyway, this fic is very mildly AU. The situation is more less the exact same but with some minor changes on the part of Harley Keener and his family. So here are just a few things to know, not all of which are mentioned but may be in the future, before you dive in to this here fanfiction.
> 
> 1.) Harley Keener is Iron Lad in this Universe. He's been going about it since about roughly the same time Peter started his Spider-Man gig. Tony put two and two together pretty quickly, and got involved with Harley's vigilante antics much like he did with Peter. Iron Lad in this universe has also participated in some major events, such as the Airport Battle in Captain America: Civil War and the Battle For Wakanda in Avengers: Infinity War. 
> 
> 2.) Harley Keener and Peter Parker first met in Berlin, just before the Airport Fight, and they've hung out regularly sense then. Harley's a year older than Peter, 17 to Peter's 16. 
> 
> 3.) In 2014, the Keeners left Rose Hill for better opportunities, both economical and educational, in Nashville. That's where Harley started the Iron Lad gig, and in 2017 took on his very own super criminals, a brutish bank robber called Mr Hyde (low level baddie I pulled out of the dusty back pages an old Marvel encyclopedia) much around the same time Peter took on The Vulture and his crew. 
> 
> Aaaand that brings y'all up to date on everything I couldn't quite fit into the story here. Everything else not here will be mentioned there. I hope y'all enjoy.

The funeral had been held at midday. Most of the guests and attendees had arrived around 11 o’clock, with a few exceptions. Steve Rogers had arrived about 3 hours early, and Thor had arrived about ten minutes late, in tow to a deeply apologetic Brunhilde. At noon, the Starks and those adjacent to them had been called alone into the house to view one last recording Tony had left for them, detailing some of his final wishes, feelings, and thoughts towards the future. It lasted a solid hour and a half, and had reduced the entire living room to tears. Afterwards, the group had gathered into a loose procession led by Pepper and Morgan, gathered what they had to intern of Tony Stark, a wreath of roses with the original power core on top, and headed out of the back door to meet the gathered guests. The core, which distinctively read “Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart” had been set out into the lake, all the heroes of Earth, and even the Universe, looking on as what was left of the man who had brought them all together floated out towards its final resting place. By the time it sunk beneath the gentle waves of the lake, there wasn’t a dry eye to be found. Over the rest of the day, the guests slowly began to disperse. Thor, Valkyrie, and the Guardians were the first to leave. Though Nebula had been very hesitant to go, and Pepper had made sure to take the time to let her know she’d always be welcome before she did. Not long after, the Bartons took their leave, followed by the Langs and Pyms. Eventually the other Avengers, Banner, Rogers and his posse, had to leave as well, though they all expressed that they wished they could stay longer. The Wakandan Royal Family left around 5 o’clock, Steven Strange and Wong not long after. Nick Fury, and by extension Carol Danvers, had stayed as long as they could, though eventually Carol needed to go, and Fury had wanted to see her off, so they made their own way out as well. It was sunset now, and all the guests had left. The Starks remained of course, it was their home after all. Rhodey and Happy stayed as well, as they always would, as did the Parkers and the Keeners, two families that in Tony’s time of hardship had managed to meld in so well that no one could care to tell them apart anymore. For all intents and purposes, they were all one big family. And so they stayed together.

 

Morgan was sitting on the back porch bench, when Happy wandered out of the house looking for her. 

“Hey squirt,” he whispered, taking a seat next to her, “How ya doing?”

“Good.” she said, lying.

“You hungry?”

“Yeah.”  
“  
What do you want to eat?”

“...Cheeseburgers.”

Cheeseburgers. Cheeseburgers. Because of course it was cheeseburgers. She said that, and Happy couldn’t help but feel his eyes begin to water as he was taken back to that day in 2008. Everyone had thought Tony was a dead man, but there he was, getting off that plane, alive and well. Poor man had been hit with a million and one questions almost immediately, but he had refused them all. He wasn’t doing anything, he said, until he had a cheeseburger. Morgan Stark really was her father’s daughter. 

“Ya know, cheeseburgers were your dad’s favorite food.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’ll get you all the cheeseburgers you want. Matter of fact, I think we’ll all do cheeseburgers tonight. Cheeseburgers and milkshakes. What do say? We all pile in and head to the diner. You like that?”

“Yeah!” Morgan practically shouted, a little glimmer of light returning to sullen eyes. 

“Great.” Happy said, smiling and getting up from his place on the bench, “I’m gonna head inside and talk to Mommy about it, okay?”

As he turned to head back in the door, his eyes were caught by the two boys sitting on the peer. 

“While I do that” Happy said turning back to Morgan, “Why don’t you go ask your big brothers if they want to join us?”

 

Peter and Harley were sitting on the dock, looking out over the water where they had only a few hours before, committed the man who had in so many ways been a father to them to rest. Neither had said a word to the other so far, neither really felt they needed to. The only thing either could think about were the words Tony’s recording had spoken to them. 

 

“And that brings us to you two. Peter and Harley. The two best interns an inventor superhero could ever ask for.” there was a long silence, as the jokey demeanor crept from the man’s face.   
“If you're listening to this...I’m sorry. I really am. Neither of you needed to go through this again, and yet here I am making you. The two of you, and Morgan, the three of you are my legacy. You’re my pride and joy. Everything I’ve built, Iron Man, the Avengers, nothing of it means anything without the three of you. You guys are the future...that’s why I’m giving it to you.”

The two boys were taken aback, shifting from their place on the couch. Neither could believe what they were hearing.

“Iron Man, my workshop at the compound, all my research and all my resources. They’re all yours now, if you want them. In the past, I’ve been called the Earth’s Best Defender, but I can’t say I’ve ever thought that I deserved it...but the two of you, and the road you’ve both set down on, I think you could.”  
“But if you decide to do this, if you keep up with this whole hero thing we got you started on, if you take this up, then you’ve got to promise me one thing. You’ve got to do it together. That’s the mistake we made. We were petty, we were vindictive, we fought, and we let ourselves break apart over it. You’ve already seen how that ends. You know how much was lost because of that.” Tony paused, “That’s why we lost the two of you. Because we couldn’t get our shit together, and now you’re gone. I mean, obviously not if you’re listening to this now, but like for me now. Whatever. Point stands. You can’t let yourselves become like that. If you do this, you’ve got to be better than us. Promise me that.”

By this point even Tony had begun to show signs of tears.

“I can’t tell you how proud you’ve made me. Both of you. You’ve been the sons I never had. I’m so sorry if I never got to tell you that. The two of you are going to do great things, I know it, and I’m sorry if I can’t be there to see it happen.”

The whole room was quiet save for the sniffling and silent weeping of those within it. 

“Alright, that’s enough of the sappy stuff. You kids go get out there now. Save the world, invent something incredible, and make sure to check in on Pepper and Morgan every now and again, okay?”

 

And so there they were. Sitting together on the peer, looking out over a lake under a swift sun set. It took a while, but Peter finally decided to step up and be the one to break the silence. 

“We’re gonna do it right?”

“Yeah, we are.”

The silence returned.

“It’s not gonna be easy.” said Harley.

“No, its not. But we can’t just stop. Spider-Man and Iron Lad can’t just disappear with Iron Man. We owe him that much. He got us started, and now its like he said. It’s our turn to carry the torch now.”

“So, for Tony then?”

“Yeah, for Mr Stark.”

Harley reached an arm around the younger, pulling him into a side hug, as both began to cry once more. The moment of grief was interrupted however, by the sound of small approaching footsteps, the image of a small figure now behind them in the reflections of the water. 

“Uncle Happy’s says he’s taking everyone out for cheeseburgers and milkshakes, he said I should come ask my big brothers if they wanted to come.” she said smile on her face.

Peter and Harley turned to face her, their faces were wet, and their eyes red and heavy. 

“Are you okay?” Morgan asked, concerned for the two older children.

“Don’t worry, Morg.” Harley insisted, “We’re just fine.”

“Wait,” said Peter, “What did you call us?”

“My Big Brothers?” Morgan answered, “It’s what Daddy called you. He said you were the kids he had before me. That makes you my big brothers!”

“Yeah,” Peter said, a sense of happiness finally returning to him, “I guess it does.”

 

It was around 7:30 that night when they all walked in the doors of the Blue Hill Diner, just a short ways down the road from the Stark House. The Starks, The Parkers, The Keeners, Happy, and Rhodey. They took their seats in a large, circular corner booth. The order was cheeseburgers and milkshakes all around. The evening was a welcome reprieve for everyone. It was nice that a day that had been previously marred by tears and grief could end filled with joy and laughter. Stories were told, happy stories full of love and light. By that point most everyone there had already heard the stories a thousand times over, but what did that matter. This is what Tony would have wanted, his family together, laughing not crying, happy not sad. Harley told the story of how he and Tony had met, how he had broken into Harley’s garage, only for Harley to put a potato in his face. Peter told the story of the day that began when he came home to find Tony sitting in his living room, and ended with him stealing Captain America’s famous shield. Pepper, May, and Abigail (Harley’s Mother) talked about Pepper and Tony’s wedding, something Peter and Harley would forever regret missing. Harley’s sister Lacey, who had been his little sister when he passed out but was his big sister when he woke up, talked about how Tony had payed for both her wedding and her honeymoon. The man had even walked her down the aisle. Rhodey told the tale of that blessed day when he’d found Tony wandering the desert, and the day he and his best friend took on Ivan Vanko and the entire arsenal of Hammer Corp at the 2011 Stark Expo. That of course led Peter to talk about his involvement in the affair, a tale that no one, save May, had yet heard about. Happy told of the day Tony finally came home from Afghanistan, and how he valiantly “helped” Natasha Romanoff infiltrate Hammer Corp. Morgan sat in the middle of everyone, happily taking in every story told of her beloved father. Peter and Harley were more than happy to share stories of their own heroics whenever Morgan asked, like the time Peter had taken down the Vulture, or when Harley busted the bank robber Mr Hyde just after his family moved to Nashville. The night went on for hours, and it took until closing for the bunch to pick themselves up and retire home for the evening.

Tony Stark, the Invincible Iron Man, was gone. But the Stark Family was as strong as ever.

**Author's Note:**

> On an additional note, I'd also like to apologize for any textual confusion. My new, actually functioning lap top is a Chrome Book and it doesn't exactly allow me to copy and paste with the greatest of ease, let alone translating things like the italics that the whole Tony flashback scene was supposed to be written and read in or the vertical lines meant to separate the different parts of the story, so I just used double spaced gaps to do the same trick. So sorry about that. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the fic, if you did there's more to come. Hell, if you really liked it maybe leave some kudos, maybe even comment. See y'all next time around!


End file.
